Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing half of all marketing spend to be included in the qualifying costs of Theatre Tax Relief.

The government recognises the value of the UK’s world-leading theatre sector. At Spring Budget 2023, the Government went further to support theatres by extending the 45 per cent (for non-touring productions) and 50 per cent (for touring productions) rates of TTR for a further 2 years.

Whilst the Government keeps all tax reliefs under review, the Government is not planning to expand the scope of Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) to include 50 per cent of marketing spend. The objective of theatre tax relief is to support and incentivise production and that is why eligible expenditure is focussed on the costs that are incurred producing and closing the theatrical production, rather than marketing.